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I shouldn't have said my wife was just worrying. She was praying, of course. It's hard to put our finger on the problem, but relationships have been harder coming in as the new kid. She's actually a very popular kid and has two "factions" competing for her, but she feels obligated to befriend another new girl who has problems of her own due to divorced parents. Our daughter is our "sure, mom!" kid and she's probably trying to please too many people or trying to make sure no one gets hurt.

With regard to school, she can do the work, but it seems to keep her too busy for her liking. She's a very creative person and loves to play outdoors so staying cooped up all day is torture to her.

And that brings up something my wife mentioned about the socialization of the classroom environment. The teacher tells the class, "If you're good, you can have recess." But if one kid misbehaves, they don't get recess, and that happens almost every day. So kids actually get the message that they might as well not act good because someone else is going to mess it up for them. My daughter is a well-behaved kid and yet she gets punished along with everyone else....every day.

AAAARGH! That recess/punishment thing is one of my pet bugaboos!! Very poor control on the part of the teacher, it seems to me!

Guenevere - And you were looking forward to that! That is too bad.

I got a movie from Blockbuster yesterday: Charlotte Gray with Cate Blanchett. Came out last winter to not so good reviews, but it's about an Englishwoman serving in the French Resistance, so I thought it was worth a look.

That's later....after I get some work done, which had better begin NOW!

Your children are going to a public school now, right?

As far as the Chinese boys, that was really kind of you to respond.

But look at it from the public school perspective (& I'm not a big public school fan)....

...Someone should have made the effort to bring these youngsters up to speed at some level, or find a tutor....

..it looks like they were just dumped into the school, and the teacher is expected to know what they want or need.

The boys are probably bright enough, that daily interaction with the students will encourage them to learn English.....

....but I am of the 'English only' crowd when it comes to schools.

I do agree that this is hard on the boys, and I'm mindful that they need help, but it's not the school's responsibility......it's the parents!

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh.

And pardon my nosiness, but did you not consider private schooling for your kids, especially after all the home schooling?
I know private schools can be expensive, but I think the adjustment would be easier, and it must really be a culture shock to see the 'worldly' attitude of these kids.

But if one kid misbehaves, they don't get recess, and that happens almost every day. So kids actually get the message that they might as well not act good because someone else is going to mess it up for them. My daughter is a well-behaved kid and yet she gets punished along with everyone else....every day.

I'd talk to the teacher about this. Keeping however many kids cooped up in a classroom without any recess breaks is just asking for trouble. The kids may be misbehaving because they haven't had a chance to get their wiggles out. And if that doesn't work, I'd go higher. It is not right to punish the whole class, keep that one child in who "misbehaved" and let the others go have some fun. /rant